Appliance control system and method using mobile communications terminal, and home gateway

Abstract

Provided is an appliance control system and method for remotely controlling various types of electrical home appliances using a mobile communications terminal, and a home gateway. To operate the electrical home appliances which vary in manufacturer and type, a database 71 in a database center 7 stores each corresponding appliance control program. In a household area 3, the electrical home appliance(s) 4 are connected to a home gateway 6 via a household network 5. The home gateway 6 collectively controls information about the storage locations of the appliance control programs on the database 71 together with various types of information about the electrical home appliances 4. A mobile communications terminal 2 refers to the home gateway 6 so as to acquire from the database 71 only the appliance control program of any electrical home appliance 4 which a user desires to operate. Through interpretation and execution of thus acquired appliance control program, any desired operation is instructed to the electrical home appliance 4.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . An appliance control system in which an arbitrary electrical home appliance in a predetermined local area can be remotely controlled using a mobile communications terminal, the system comprising: 
 a database storing at least a piece of appliance control information needed to define a signal for directly controlling any one of various types of electrical home appliances;    at least one electrical home appliance operable to retain, as storage location information, information about access to the database that stores the own appliance control information of the electrical home appliance;    a home gateway connecting with the electrical home appliance via a local area network, and operable to collectively control the storage location information retained by the electrical home appliance connected thereto;    a mobile communications terminal operable to remotely control the electrical home appliance based on the appliance control information stored in the database using the storage location information collectively controlled by the home gateway; and    a network connecting among the database, the home gateway, and the mobile communications terminal.    
     
     
         2 . The application control system according to  claim 1 , wherein 
 the database stores a single piece of said appliance control information for each of the electrical home appliances, and the storage location information uniquely specifies the appliance control information,    in response to a request from the mobile communications terminal for remotely controlling the electrical home appliance, the home gateway transmits the storage location information of the electrical home appliance to the mobile communications terminal,    based on the storage location information received from the home gateway, the mobile communications terminal acquires from the database the appliance control information corresponding to the electrical home appliance requested for remote control, interprets and executes the acquired appliance control information, and transmits a control signal corresponding to any desired operation details to the home gateway, and    the home gateway provides the received control signal to the electrical home appliance requested for remote control.    
     
     
         3 . The appliance control system according to  claim 1 , wherein 
 the database stores a plurality of said appliance control information for each of the electrical home appliances, and the storage location information specifies two or more of the plurality of said appliance control information,    in response to a request from the mobile communications terminal for remotely controlling the electrical home appliance, the home gateway transmits the storage location information of the electrical home appliance to the mobile communications terminal,    based on the storage location information received from the home gateway, the mobile communications terminal selectively acquires, from the database, any desired one of the appliance control information from among the two or more of the plurality of said appliance control information corresponding to the electrical home appliance requested for remote control, interprets and executes the acquired appliance control information, and transmits a control signal corresponding to any desired operation details to the home gateway, and    the home gateway provides the received control signal to the electrical home appliance requested for remote control.    
     
     
         4 . The appliance control system according to  claim 1 , wherein 
 the database stores a single piece of said appliance control information for each of the electrical home appliances, and the storage location information uniquely specifies the appliance control information,    the home gateway, after connecting with the electrical home appliance via the local area network, acquires in advance from the database the appliance control information specified by the storage location information of the connected electrical home appliance,    in response to a request from the mobile communications terminal for remotely controlling the electrical home appliance, the home gateway transmits an operation screen based on the appliance control information to the mobile communications terminal,    using the operation screen received from the home gateway, the mobile communications terminal transmits an instruction to the home gateway including any desired operation details of the electrical home appliance requested for remote control, and    the home gateway interprets and executes the appliance control information in accordance with the received instruction, and provides a control signal corresponding to the desired operation details to the electrical home appliance requested for remote control.    
     
     
         5 . The appliance control system according to  claim 2 , wherein 
 the home gateway manages the storage location information together with an appliance name predetermined for the electrical home appliance, and in response to the request, transmits the appliance name together with the storage location information to the mobile communications terminal, and    by referring to the appliance name received from the home gateway, the mobile communications terminal can select the electrical home appliance requested for remote control.    
     
     
         6 . The appliance control system according to  claim 5 , wherein 
 the home gateway further manages an appliance condition relating to an operation and a setting of the electrical home appliance, and in response to the request, transmits the appliance condition together with the storage location information and the appliance name to the mobile communications terminal, and    by referring to the appliance condition received from the home gateway, the mobile communications terminal can determine whether the operation details are valid.    
     
     
         7 . The appliance control system according to  claim 1 , wherein the storage location information collectively controlled by the home gateway can be arbitrarily changed.  
     
     
         8 . An appliance control method for remotely controlling an arbitrary electrical home appliance in a predetermined local area using a mobile communications terminal in a system wherein a network connects a database storing at least a piece of appliance control information needed to define a signal for directly controlling any one of various types of electrical home appliances; a home gateway connecting with at least one of the electrical home appliances operable to retain, as storage location information, information about access to the database that stores the own appliance control information of the electrical home appliance via a local area network; and the mobile communications terminal, wherein 
 the home gateway, after connecting with the electrical home appliance via the local network, acquires and manages the storage location information retained by the electrical home appliance connected thereto, and    using the storage location information managed by the home gateway, the mobile communications terminal remotely controls the electrical home appliance based on the appliance control information stored in the database.    
     
     
         9 . The appliance control method according to  claim 8 , wherein the database stores a single piece of said appliance control information for each of the electrical home appliances, and the storage location information uniquely the appliance control information, and 
 the method further comprises the steps of: 
 transmitting, by the home gateway, the storage location information of the electrical home appliance to the mobile communications terminal in response to a request from the mobile communications terminal for remotely controlling the electrical home appliance;  
 acquiring from the database, by the mobile communications terminal, the appliance control information corresponding to the electrical home appliance requested for remote control based on the storage location information received from the home gateway;  
 interpreting and executing, by the mobile communications terminal, the appliance control information acquired from the database, and transmitting a control signal corresponding to any desired operation details to the home gateway; and  
 providing, by the home gateway, the control signal received from the mobile communications terminal to the electrical home appliance requested for remote control.  
   
     
     
         10 . The appliance control method according to  claim 8 , wherein 
 the database stores a plurality of said appliance control information for each of the electrical home appliances, and the storage location information specifies two or more of the plurality of said appliance control information, and    the method further comprises the steps of: 
 transmitting, by the home gateway, the storage location information of the electrical home appliance to the mobile communications terminal in response to a request from the mobile communications terminal for remotely controlling the electrical home appliance;  
 selectively acquiring, by the mobile communications terminal, from the database, any desired one of the appliance control information from among the two or more of the plurality of said appliance control information corresponding to the electrical home appliance requested for remote control based on the storage location information provided from the home gateway;  
 interpreting and executing, by the mobile communications terminal, the appliance control information acquired from the database, and transmitting a control signal corresponding to any desired operation details to the home gateway; and  
 providing, by the home gateway, the control signal received from the mobile communications terminal to the electrical home appliance requested for remote control.  
   
     
     
         11 . The appliance control method according to  claim 8 , wherein 
 the database stores a single piece of said appliance control information for each of the electrical home appliances, and the storage location information uniquely specifies the appliance control information, and    the method comprising the steps of: 
 acquiring in advance from the database, by the home gateway, after the home gateway connects with the electrical home appliance via the local area network, the appliance control information specified by the storage location information of the connected electrical home appliance;  
 transmitting, by the home gateway, in response to a request from the mobile communications terminal operable to remotely control the electrical home appliance, an operation screen based on the appliance control information of the electrical home appliance to the mobile communications terminal;  
 transmitting an instruction to the home gateway, by the mobile communications terminal, including any desired operation details of the electrical home appliance requested for remote control using the operation screen received from the home gateway; and  
 interpreting and executing, by the home gateway, the appliance control information in accordance with the instruction received from the mobile communications terminal, and providing a control signal corresponding to the desired operation details to the electrical home appliance requested for remote control.  
   
     
     
         12 . The appliance control method according to  claim 9 , further comprising the steps of: 
 transmitting in response to the request, by the home gateway, an appliance name predetermined for the electrical home appliance and managed together with the storage location information to the mobile communications terminal together with the storage location information; and    selecting, by the mobile communications terminal, the electrical home appliance requested for remote control by referring to the appliance name received from the home gateway.    
     
     
         13 . The appliance control method according to  claim 12 , further comprising the steps of: 
 transmitting in response to the request, by the home gateway, an appliance condition further managed thereby relating to an operation and a setting of the electrical home appliance together with the storage location information and the appliance name; and    determining, by the mobile communications terminal, whether the operation details are valid by referring to the appliance condition received from the home gateway.    
     
     
         14 . The appliance control method according to  claim 8 , wherein the storage location information managed by the home gateway can be arbitrarily changed.  
     
     
         15 . A home gateway connecting, via a network, a database for storing at least a piece of appliance control information needed to define a signal for directly controlling any one of various types of the electrical home appliances; and a mobile communications terminal operable to remotely control the electrical home appliance based on the appliance control information stored in the database, wherein 
 at least one of the electrical home appliances operable to retain, as storage location information, information about access to the database that stores the own appliance control information of the electrical home appliance is connected via a local area network, and    the storage location information retained by the connected electrical home appliance is acquired and managed.    
     
     
         16 . The home gateway according to  claim 15 , wherein 
 in response to a request from the mobile communications terminal for remotely controlling the electrical home appliance, the storage location information of the electrical home appliance is transmitted to the mobile communications terminal, and    in response to a control signal corresponding to any desired operation details received from the mobile communications terminal, the control signal is provided to the electrical home appliance requested for remote control.    
     
     
         17 . The home gateway according to  claim 15 , wherein 
 after the home gateway connects with the electrical home appliance via the local area network, the appliance control information specified by the storage location information of the electrical home appliance is acquired in advance from the database,    in response to a request from the mobile communications terminal operable to remotely control the electrical home appliance, an operation screen based on the appliance control information of the electrical home appliance is transmitted to the mobile communications terminal, and    in response to any desired operation instruction received from the mobile communications terminal, a control signal corresponding to the operation instruction is generated by interpreting and executing the previously acquired appliance control information, and the control signal is provided to the electrical home appliance requested for remote control.    
     
     
         18 . The home gateway according to  claim 16 , wherein the storage location information is managed together with an appliance name predetermined for the electrical home appliance, and in response to the request, the appliance name is transmitted to the mobile communications terminal together with the storage location information.  
     
     
         19 . The home gateway according to  claim 18 , wherein an appliance condition relating to an operation and a setting of the electrical home appliance is further managed, and the appliance condition is transmitted to the mobile communications terminal together with the storage location information and the appliance name in response to the request.  
     
     
         20 . The home gateway according to  claim 15 , wherein the storage location information to be managed can be arbitrarily changed.